Update: $80M in infrastructure work coming

» Daly Overpass, First Street bridge among upgrades

The Daly Overpass was officially opened on Oct. 16, 1963. Its three lanes are now a source of frustration for Brandon drivers on four-lane 18th Street.

The province will plow more than $80 million over the next five years into Brandon and the immediate area, with a series of bridge and road upgrades, including the long-awaited expansion of the Daly Overpass.

Although specific timelines weren't given, the province announced today details of which projects would be undertaken locally in the five-year province-wide plan. Previous releases had described the $5.5-billion infrastructure plan in broad outlines only.

Traffic, two-wheeled and four-wheeled, rumbles over the First Street Bridge in 2012. (COLIN CORNEAU/BRANDON SUN)

Detailed today are a series of six projects that will be done at some point over the next five years.

They include a major rehabilitation of the Daly Overpass to add a fourth lane to the notorious bottleneck.

Also in the plan is a significant rehabilitation of the First Street bridge, which has drawn crticism over the past couple of years for its poor condition. The province says that it will get a deck replacement and girder reinforcement. The work is expected to be done in stages that will allow it to remain open at least one lane in each direction during the work.

Other jobs include a kilometre of paving to the Brandon airport access road, 15 km of paving on Highway 270 north of Brandon, and microsurfacing work for nearly 4 km on Veteran's Way and more than 11 km of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Highway 1A through Kemany will also be repaved all the way to Brandon's 50th Street. And the province will be doing a complete rebuild of Victoria Avenue between First Street and 18th Street.

The work is in addition to other Westman projects that have previously been announced, including a $67-million investment into Highway 10 that will see new passing lanes and curve realignments in places between Riding Mountain National Park and the U.S border.

"Good highways and bridges are important to local families and businesses, tourists and commercial drivers," Premier Greg Selinger said in making the announcement. "We know the best way to encourage growth in our communities is to invest in roads and bridges. We made significant upgrades over the last five years and these new upgrades are part of our continuing commitment to improving infrastructure in Manitoba.

This article is currently rated an average of 3 out of 5 (1 votes).

We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high. If you thought it was well written, do the same. If it doesn’t meet your standards, mark it accordingly.

You can also register and/or login to the site and join the conversation by leaving a comment.

Rate it yourself by rolling over the stars and clicking when you reach your desired rating. We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high.

You can comment on most stories on brandonsun.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments.
All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

Posted by:

March 13, 2014 at 11:04 PM

While they are at it, I hope the highway engineers can improve the sight line when you merge onto 18th St. at the south end of the Daly bridge. Entering the traffic flow from the underpass is a daily crap-shoot, especially if the road is slick. I'm surprised there has not been a major accident between emergency vehicles traveling south on the bridge and merging traffic.

Post Your Comment

Error

The following error(s) occurred:

You forgot to fill in the comment box.

confirm comment

The following is the comment that you have written. If you like what you have written, select the submit button and the comment will be sent to the Brandon Sun. If you would like to go back and edit your comment, select the edit button.

Comment

You have characters left

The Brandon Sun does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. Comments are moderated before publication. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.